Body to clamp down on 'morning after' drink driving

DRIVERS and bike riders are being urged to stop and think before taking to the road while under the influence of alcohol from the night before.

From June, the Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership is spearheading the Morning After campaign which is targeting drinkers who do the right thing on the night by not driving on the night in the pubs or clubs but then drive in the morning when the alcohol can still be in their body.

During December 2013, 6,550 drivers failed the breath test, with 26 per cent of those were under the age of 25 years.

A unit of alcohol takes the body an hour to break down, meaning a person drinking three large glasses of wine in an evening who stops drinking at midnight shouldn’t drive for 13 hours – at around 1pm the following day.

Road safety manager Garry Handley said that although the number drinking and driving cases had reduced significantly in recent years, it remains a serious problem.

“Around 1,000 local drivers are arrested and convicted every year, and they have to live with the personal and social consequences of their actions,” he said.

“Tragically of course, for some, lives are lost and people harmed.”

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Campaign posters will be displayed in pubs and clubs and messages will be posted on fuel pump nozzles and adverts will appear on radio.

The morning after website www.morning-after.org.uk features an alarm clock showing examples of how long it takes for typical drinks to be absorbed by the body.

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